(a)
Definitions
(1) The definitions
of the following terms used in this section shall be the same as the
definitions in section
22a-423
of the General Statutes: Commissioner, person and pollution.
(2) For the purposes of this section:
"Blowout Preventer" means equipment installed at the wellhead
for the purpose of preventing an uncontrolled flow of gas, oil or other well
fluids in the space between the casing and the drill pipe or in an open hole
during drilling, completion, or production operations;
"Cement Bond Log" means a record of the type of cement used to
fill the annular space about the casing, the injection method used to inject
cement into such annular space, the depth to which such cement has been so
injected, and the date of such cement injection;
"Cement Plug" means a section of a well filled with
cement;
"Electrical Well Log" means the record of electrical
characteristics of the geologic horizons intersected by a well;
"Exploration" means activities conducted for the purpose of
obtaining geological, geophysical of geochemical information about oil or gas
in the State including seismic activities but not including exploratory well
drilling or aerial surveys;
"Fresh-Water Bearing Horizon" means any geologic strata or
horizon yielding or containing water with less than 10,000 parts per million of
total dissolved solids;
"Gas" means all natural gas and all other hydrocarbons that
occur in a gaseous phase in the reservoir;
"Geologic Well Log" means the record of the lithologic
characteristics of the horizons traversed by a well;
"Oil" means crude petroleum oil and other hydrocarbons,
regardless of gravity, that are produced in liquid form by ordinary production
methods;
"Radioactivity Well Log" means the record of the radioactive
characteristics of the geologic horizons traversed by a well;
"Surface Casing" means a pipe placed into a well and cemented
to the sides of the well from the top to a depth sufficient to seal off all
fresh-water bearing horizons;
"Well" means any excavation that is cored, drilled, jetted, or
otherwise created for the purpose of exploring for or producing oil or gas or
for the purpose of enhanced recovery or for the disposal of oil-field wastes or
for the storage of hydrocarbons, but not including borings less than 100 feet
in depth for the purpose of seismic exploration.
(b)
Registration.
(1) Any person exploring for oil or gas on
and after the effective date of this section shall register with the
Commissioner of Environmental Protection on a form prescribed by the
Commissioner. Exploration or well drilling shall not commence until the
Commissioner approves such registration as conforming to the requirements of
section 22a-472-1.
(2) Registration
information for exploration shall include but not be limited to the following:
(A) the name (if a corporation transacting
business in Connecticut, the full exact name as registered with the Secretary
of the State), mailing and location addresses and telephone number of the
person for whom the exploration is conducted, and, if such person is a
business, the name, mailing and location address and telephone number of the
individual designated as the contact for the Commissioner;
(B) a United States Geologic Survey
topographic map at a scale of one inch equals 25,000 feet which shows the
location of the exploration activity;
(C) a description of the exploration
activity, including but not limited to a description of the methods of
exploration to be used and the location, depth and number of borings to be
drilled;
(D) a registration fee of
$50 payable by certified check or money order to the Commissioner of
Environmental Protection; and
(E)
any other information which the Commissioner deems necessary.
(3) A separate registration shall
be submitted for each exploratory well and each oil or gas production well.
Registration information for each such well shall include but not be limited to
the following:
(A) the name (if a corporation
transacting business in Connecticut, the full exact name as registered with the
Secretary of the State), mailing and location adresses and telephone numbers of
the owner of the land on which the proposed well will be located, the owner of
the rights to drill the well and the operator of the well, and, if any such
person is a business, the name, mailing and location address and telephone
number of the individual designated as the contact for the
Commissioner;
(B) a map, drawn to
scale, prepared by a land surveyor licensed to practice in Connecticut, which
shows the location of the proposed well, the location of each private water
supply well within a 1000 foot radius of the proposed well, the location of
each public water supply well or public water supply reservoir within a one
mile radius of the proposed well, and the names and locations of all
watercourses, springs and roads within a one mile radius of the proposed well;
the Commissioner shall notify the owner of any public water supply well or
public water supply reservoir identified in accordance with this subparagraph
of a registration upon receipt of the registration information;
(C) the proposed final depth of the proposed
well;
(D) the depth of each private
well within a 1000 foot radius of the proposed well and the depth of each
public water supply well within a one mile radius of the proposed
well;
(E) the estimated depth and
diameter of surface casing to be installed in the proposed well, and the
material and diameter of which such casing is made;
(F) the type and quantity of fluids to be
used or produced during or as a result of drilling, and the proposed method of
handling and
disposal for each type of fluid. Handling and
disposal shall be
consistent with all legal requirements, including but not limited to Sections
22a-430-8,
22a-430-3
and
22a-430-4
of the Regulations of Connecticut State Agencies, as amended. In addition, any
uncontrolled loss of oil, water chemical or gas from an oil or gas well must be
immediately reported to the
Commissioner or the State Police as required by
Section
22a-450
of the Connecticut General Statutes;
(G) the latitude, longitude and surface
elevation above mean sea level for the location of the proposed well;
(H) the proposed well diameter and drilling
method to be used;
(I) a surety or
performance bond payable to the State of Connecticut in the sum of $25,000 for
each proposed well, conditioned on the well being drilled, maintained and
abandoned in accordance with this section and the exploration and production
activities not causing pollution;
(J) a fee of $250 for each proposed
exploratory well, and $500 for each proposed oil or gas production well,
payable by certified check or money order to the Commissioner of Environmental
Protection; and
(K) any other
information which the Commissioner deems necessary.
(4) The Commissioner may, at any time,
increase or decrease the amount of the bond required by subparagraph (b) (3)
(I) of section 22a-472-1 upon consideration of the potential extent and degree
of pollution from the exploration or production activity, the potential costs
for study of the extent and degree of pollution, prevention and remediation of
pollution if pollution occurs or is threatened; and the potential costs of
proper abandonment.
(5) If a
registrant becomes aware of a change in the information submitted as part of a
registration, or that any such information was erroneous, or that any relevant
facts were omitted from the registration, he or she shall submit the correct
information to the Commissioner in writing within thirty days. Notwithstanding
this requirement, information regarding the depth of the well being drilled
need not be altered until thirty days after the drilling of such well ceases,
at which time the actual depth of the surface casing and geologic, electrical
and radioactivity well logs as well as a cement bond log, and any other
information as necessary to verify to the Commissioner that the well has been
constructed in accordance with the requirements of this Section shall be
submitted to the Commissioner and made a part of the registration. Within
thirty days after abandoning a well, the registrant shall verify to the
Commissioner that the well has been properly abandoned in accordance with the
requirements of subsection (f) of section 22a-472-1, and such verification
shall be made a part of the registration.
(d)
Well
construction requirements.
(1) The
casing program adopted for each well must be designed to protect against the
potential for infiltration of oil or gas bearing horizons into a water bearing
horizon, to prevent the migration of oil or gas from one horizon to another and
to prevent the infiltration of water from any source into potential oil or gas
bearing horizons. All casing shall be new and in good condition.
(2) Unless otherwise approved in writing by
the Commissioner, surface casing shall extend from the ground surface to a
depth of at least fifty feet below the lowest fresh water bearing horizon.
Sufficient cement shall be used to fill the annular space from the base of the
surface casing to the surface of the ground. Cement shall be added from the
base of the casing upward and shall be circulated back to the
surface.
(3) Unless otherwise
approved in writing by the Commissioner, all wells shall be equipped with a
blowout preventer during drilling or production activities and all blowout
prevention equipment shall be maintained in good working order at all
times.
(e)
Well
drilling activities.
All activities related to the exploration or production of oil
and gas including but not limited to the generation of oil field wastes such as
waste oil, wastewater, chemicals, mud and/or cement, or the construction of
unlined evaporation sumps, catch basins or mud pits, shall be conducted in such
a manner so as not to create a condition which reasonably can be expected to
create a source of pollution to the waters of the State.
(f)
Well abandonment
requirements.
(1) Thirty days prior to
the abandonment of any well the registrant of that well shall give notice to
the Commissioner of the intent to undertake such abandonment.
(2) Each exploratory and production well
shall be abandoned in accordance with the following: The bottom of the well
shall be filled with mud-laden fluid weighing at least nine pounds per gallon
with not less than thirty-six viscosity A.P.I., full funnel method, to
twenty-five feet below the bottom of the surface casing, except that each
producing formation shall be sealed with a cement plug which extends from
either the bottom of the well or twenty-five feet below the base of each
producing formation upward to a point at least fifty feet above the top of each
producing formation. A cement plug shall extend from at least twenty-five feet
below the bottom of the surface casing to at least fifty feet above the bottom
of the surface casing. The well shall then be filled with mud-laden fluid
weighing at least nine pounds per gallon with not less than thirty-six
viscosity A.P.I. from fifty feet above the bottom of the surface casing to at
least thirty feet from the top of the well. A cement plug shall extend from
thirty feet from the top of the well to the ground surface.
(3) The surface casing shall not be removed
from the well at any time.
(4) Each
well used for the production of oil or gas which has not been in operation for
one year or more shall be properly abandoned in accordance with this
subsection, unless otherwise approved in writing by the Commissioner.
(5) Exploratory wells shall be properly
abandoned in accordance with this subsection within one hundred eighty days of
cessation of drilling, unless otherwise approved in writing by the
Commissioner.